42 replies to this topic 2 votes

[AsherGZ]

KingCracker, on 15 September 2012 - 21:17, said:

Toyota ripoff?

[KingCracker]

gzAsher, on 16 September 2012 - 00:54, said:

Toyota ripoff?

The only thing they have in common is they're both hatchbacks.. The headlights and tail lights are different the interior is different the back door handles are different and its bigger. In short everything is different from the Toyota except for the body style. The Chevy has more horsepower as well. Even the back doors are shaped differently. Frankly to even think for one second that its a rip off is silly.

[ILikeTobacco]

Titoist, on 16 September 2012 - 00:00, said:

I find the overall quality of the Sonic superior to that of the Mazda 3 or even 2. Sonic has a more solid feel, while the Mazda 3 from my experience is very plastiky and creaks during a hot summer drive where the inside and outside temperature variation makes the plastic move. Didn't experience this with the Sonic. I test drove both on the same day in 35C weather.

Only creaking I've had on my Speed3 is the plastic on the vents. That being said, the interior of my 2011 Speed3 is complete different from the 2010 Mazda3 I had 2 years ago. The Speed3 has a lot of cloth on the side panels and a different material on the dash which feels like it would freely expand and contract with weather having software plastic. I considered the Mazda3 an economy car before the Mazda2 came out. The Mazda2 is an all around cheap car though. Makes it the perfect starter car for a high school/college age student. The Volt's MSRP is double that of the Mazda2 though so comparing them is hardly fair. Even the Mazda3 is 2/3 of the price. I'd compare the Mazda2 to Honda Fits, Ford Fiestas, NIssan Versa and maybe Kia Soul though that's be bit higher end in that class. Mazda3 would be compared to Honda Civics, Mitsubishi Eclipse, Ford Focus and VW Jetta. I would say the Volt falls into a new class of cars that is a high end economy car. It's not a cheap build quality at all but its still very small to save on gas. Most economy cars right now are low build quality in general (look at the Mazda2 and comparison cars) so I don't feel they fall in the same category. When looking at cars, to me anyway, it seems there are brackets for various socioeconomic classes. Lower class people look at new cars the $10,000 to $30,000 range. Middle class people would consider a $20,000 car and up to probably $50,000 for SUVs and nice trucks. Upper class goes from there.

Here are the side panels and a few interior shots of the Speed3. A lot of the cheaper plastic from the regular Mazda3 is replaced with cloth and leather. The red and black you see on the side panels is cloth. The seats are cloth in the center and leather on the outside which is important here because it gets to be 120 F(not sure what that is in C)during the summer and you can't sit on black leather that's been in direct sunlight at that temp without getting burned a bit.

http://image.motortr...-door-panel.jpg
http://image.motortr...-cup-holder.jpg
http://4.bp.blogspot...f3a95c7c7_o.jpg
http://www.yosax.com...d3-interior.jpg

[ILikeTobacco]

KingCracker, on 14 September 2012 - 20:37, said:

Images snipped

Nice, I like the modular style. What about the computer stuff like the media player. Here is the display you get on the Mazda3/MazdaSpeed3 for the built in Navigation. I will take some pictures of the music player and general info panels later when I am off work.
http://image.motortr...tion-screen.jpg

[AWKM]

Looks like a nice car but i'd prefer a Yaris over it I think. Unfortunately if I was buying a new car I'd probably have to go for a Toyota Corolla simply because it's built in Cambridge, Ontario about 30 minutes from where I live and I'd prefer to support local workers.

[KingCracker]

ILikeTobacco, on 17 September 2012 - 14:12, said:

Nice, I like the modular style. What about the computer stuff like the media player. Here is the display you get on the Mazda3/MazdaSpeed3 for the built in Navigation. I will take some pictures of the music player and general info panels later when I am off work.
http://image.motortr...tion-screen.jpg

The touch screen in my Sonic has controls for a smartphone with apps and it has bluetooth with the ability to dial a number via the touch screen and it can show your contacts. It can show album art from your Ipod and it can play video and pictures.The MYlink (touch screen) is begging to be hacked and cracked, would love to see some third party apps added to it. But the way they use apps is its not actually on the radio you get them for your smartphone and then its applied in the radio, chevy has some apps already for it like pandora radio and stitcher. It needs a weather app. If someone could hack it the potential of the radio would go high. The touch screen its self is an LG

[KingCracker]

Best review ever lol.

[KingCracker]

Plastidipped the rims going to tint the windows next.

[tsupersonic]

Actually, you know what? That looks good. Black out the Chevy logo, **** it, black out everything!

[KingCracker]

tsupersonic, on 26 September 2012 - 02:18, said:

Actually, you know what? That looks good. Black out the Chevy logo, **** it, black out everything!

And took the plastidip off the lug nuts, looks better now.

[moloko]

Congrats on your new car. Not my style but if you happy, great. Looks like comes with lots of features.

[Brendan M]

Nice new car man! The Chevrolet Sonic and the Mazda 2 are in equal compared in that line up in terms of size. The Chevrolet Cruze would be the Chevrolet model to line up with a Mazda 3.

The Sonic will treat you as well as you treat it I'm sure.

[KingCracker]

Brendan M, on 30 September 2012 - 18:46, said:

Nice new car man! The Chevrolet Sonic and the Mazda 2 are in equal compared in that line up in terms of size. The Chevrolet Cruze would be the Chevrolet model to line up with a Mazda 3.

The Sonic will treat you as well as you treat it I'm sure.

loving it so far, in automatic its kinda slow because its tuned to save gas but once in manual mode it has some decent pep to it. going to install an ultragauge in it next pay check so I can see additional information about my engine.